nursing homes

Nursing homes across the state are struggling with increased costs and an acute labor shortage.

Over the past decade, 26 nursing homes in Maine have closed. And as the numbers shrink, it's becoming harder to relocate residents within 60 miles, which state regulations call for.

More than 23,000 hours of approved home care for older adults goes undelivered each week due to workforce shortages, according to a new report from the Maine Center for Economic Policy.

Another Maine nursing home is closing. The operators of Narraguagus Bay Health Care in Milbridge have confirmed it will close within 60 days.

Senior policy analyst Riley Sullivan said nearly 15% of nursing homes in the region have closed, and Maine had the highest percentage, at 19%.

Another Maine nursing home is closing. Winthrop's Heritage and Rehabilitation Center is the third closure in 2024, according to the Maine Health Care Association.

A coalition supporting long-term care facilities is calling on state officials to approve more funding for the system.

A proposal by the administration of President Joe Biden to establish federal minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes is dividing the people who run those facilities and the advocates for those who live there.

Vaccination rates for the newest bivalent booster among nursing home staff in Maine are lagging behind the residents they care for and the population at large, according to federal data, as the state endures its third pandemic winter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had staggering effects on long-term care facilities this past year. They have accounted for about 10 percent of all coronavirus…